Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 5, 2018

Let’s talk gun bills. What the General Assembly does, or does not do, with gun legislation will determine whether this session can be deemed even somewhat of a success.  How even this feckless group can cower before the NRA in the wake of endless mass shootings is beyond me. Granted, some of the problem is incompetence, as in President Pro-Tem McBride’s assigning an assault weapons ban to an inhospitable committee. Which is, granted once again, huge incompetence.  But the arguments and tactics of the NRA and its local affiliates are both shopworn and predictable.  This current group of undistinguished ‘Honorables’ have once again played the role of willing stooges in rolling over for those who support mass murder.  Do you believe they can change? All we have is  hope. And your willingness to contact your legislators. Rather than run down the entire litany of bills, I recommend this overview of legislation from the Delaware State News.  Some of the big news? The bump stocks bill may finally head to the Governor’s Office following a scheduled Senate vote today. And the assault weapons bill will be considered in committee tomorrow. All McBride had to do was to assign it to a hospitable committee. Instead, he placed it in a committee that would require Sen. Ennis to approve its release. It’s not too late, Dave, reassign it if it isn’t released.

The General Assembly has apparently agreed with John Carney, and has provided for only one-time funding for programs and for bonuses to state employees and retirees. John Carney has no vision beyond Chamber talking points, and there is little pushback from this group of legislative mediocrities. So, other than some finagling from corrections officers, it looks like there will be little controversy over the budget.

Ho-kay. Today’s Senate Agenda features the amended bump-stock ban, which has ping-ponged between chambers. It now features seven amendments, including two amendments to amendments. This is what happens when someone as unskilled as Rep. PAL Longhurst wants the glory but is incapable of legislating effectively.

The bump-stock bill is not the only one with a checkered past on today’s Senate Agenda. SB 113(McDowell), which ‘authorizes the creation of a Delaware Voluntary Property Assessed Clean Energy (D-PACE) program to establish a clean energy financing program for the installation of energy efficiency technologies and clean energy systems for qualifying commercial real properties statewide’, garnered only eight votes when considered before. Not good, considering that this bill requires a super-majority. Maybe the issues have been worked out over the break. But any bill with the term ‘Sustainable Energy Utility’ in it is apt to have some issues.  And Harris often struggles with the ‘legislating’ part of the equation.

Speaking of Sen. McDowell, today’s House Agenda features his sop to the electric and natural gas utilities.  The bill is now less onerous thanks to this substantive amendment. Nevertheless, this is a bill sought by the utilities to enable them to increase rates w/o PSC approval. In other words, special interest legislation. The bill is likely to pass, but I hope that, should it pass, Rep. Kowalko’s filed amendment is added to the bill.

The House Agenda kicks off with SS1/SB 85 (Henry), which ‘draws attention to the types of discipline used in schools by capturing data about out-of-school suspensions and publishing that data, in an effort to help schools identify areas where the data regarding out-of-school suspensions indicates there is room to reduce such suspensions’. A few stray Senate Rethugs voted against this bill, including Greg Lavelle, who seems determined to ensure that no teacher votes for him this year.  Greg, we’d be delighted to assist you in that quest.

We, uh, also have legislation to name the Welcome Center on I-95 after the Bidens. Perhaps each commode can be named after an individual Biden. ‘Some’ would find that fitting.

Huge committee day tomorrow. I’ll be back then to run down the lineup.